I'm planning to spend 2-3 days hiking in Japan

by Megan
(Korea)

Hi, I'm planning a trip to Japan for the end of the month and would like to spend 2-3 days of my week hiking. After a little research I'm leaning towards hiking the route between Suisho-dake and Washiba-dake from the Takase dam.

I was wondering if you would be willing to share some more details or advice on this route, as you have trekked it before. Is it a good pick or would you recommend something else? I'm especially curious as to the best way to get on and off the trail using public transport. Thanks for any advice you can provide!

Megan

************

Hi Megan,

Nice to hear from you.

I was not that impressed with Suisho and would encourage you to consider Mt.Jonen-dake, Japan's 25th highest peak, which I climbed on Aug. 22, 2011.

As for taxis, you should probably plan on about 3000-4000 yen for the 30 min. taxi ride from Toyoshina (or Hotaka) Station. But that's just a guess. I had a friend drop me off @ the trailhead and I hitchhiked out of there. Or you could hike down into Kamikochi, where there's bus service, but that's a much, much longer hike, plus I heard it's a pretty tough route.

Best wishes...

Gary

p.s. I also had to take a taxi to get to Takase dam when I climbed Suisho, but was able to share the ride with another climber I met at the station. Coming out, though, I had to fork over the full 7,000 yen all my myself. Ouch...

Jul 09, 2011Rating

Ridgeline hike between Jonen-dake and Chogatakeby: Megan

Gary,

Thanks for the recommendation. I had originally considered doing a ridgeline hike between Jonen-dake and Chogatake, but I couldn't find much information on the route.

I had also heard getting to the trailhead took a long time and was expensive. You seemed to think it was quite easy to reach the trailhead from Hotaka Station.

Do you mind my asking about how much the taxi will run? I have one further question. I don't speak any Japanese so I feel like I need a decent English map.

Does the park service have trail maps in English (they do here in Korea)? If not where should I look? You had quite a few pictures of signs along the trail, I noticed some had English writing. Is it fairly easy to stay on the right trail even if you don't understand Japanese?

If you've found value on
this website,
please consider sending a donation of any amount
to help cover my web hosting expenses. I have intentionally limited ads,
have never used pop-ups, and do not try to collect email addresses
in order to provide visitors a pleasant, hassle-free experience. Thank
you!

(Please rest assured that when you click
the 'Donate' button,
your transaction will be encrypted and secure.
Your information is safe with PayPal,
one of the largest payment processors on the Internet.)